HowCanPeopleInPlacesOfPrivilegeHelpMinoritiesWithoutOverstepping?

A question I find myself asking a lot is how I can help minorities without overstepping my bounds as a cis white woman. I’ve seen many people on platforms such as Twitter criticized for stepping on the toes of minorities, despite their intentions being somewhat genuine in wanting to help.

So how can I spread awareness and help disenfranchised people without talking over them?

4 replies

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I think when wanting to be ally of disenfranchised/marginalized people one of the best things you can do is listen to them when they talk and educate yourself on their experiences through them. This involves checking your privilege and recognizing the role it plays in relation to marginalized people. Also ask questions like you're asking now! Seek out information and get involved in causes that seek to represent marginalized voices and call out/end racism, discrimination, systematic oppression, etc.

I think when wanting to be ally of disenfranchised/marginalized people one of the best things you can do is listen to them when they talk and educate yourself on their experiences through them. This involves checking your privilege and recognizing the role it plays in relation to marginalized people. Also ask questions like you're asking now! Seek out information and get involved in causes that seek to represent marginalized voices and call out/end racism, discrimination, systematic oppression, etc.

Like Fevin said, listen to them. When you want to cater to minorities in terms of marketing/characters on shows/makeup products etc, make sure you have minorities on the board that helps to make casting decisions or product decisions or marketing decisions. Also, representation matters. You can't claim to be a champion of women's issues when you have a show that is supposed to be about women, but you don't have a single woman of color as a main character (ALL SHADE AND ALL TEA). The best thing you can do, is instead of speaking for or over minorities (even if you have the best intentions), amplify the voices of minorities. So for example, if someone asks you about Kaepernick's protest, instead of giving your whitesplained answer, point those people to twitter threads/articles/blogs written by black people that understand why he is kneeling etc.

Like Fevin said, listen to them. When you want to cater to minorities in terms of marketing/characters on shows/makeup products etc, make sure you have minorities on the board that helps to make casting decisions or product decisions or marketing decisions. Also, representation matters. You can't claim to be a champion of women's issues when you have a show that is supposed to be about women, but you don't have a single woman of color as a main character (ALL SHADE AND ALL TEA). The best thing you can do, is instead of speaking for or over minorities (even if you have the best intentions), amplify the voices of minorities. So for example, if someone asks you about Kaepernick's protest, instead of giving your whitesplained answer, point those people to twitter threads/articles/blogs written by black people that understand why he is kneeling etc.